Drabble by Kevin Fagan for October 21, 2021

To scare a millennial, tell them that their phone fell into the toilet

Have them watch Invaders From Mars, the original, not the remake. That should scare them.

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is way better than most of today’s horror movies!

You want scary? Steinbrenner as the head of you HOA.

One time, when I was a kid, my family was watching X – THE UNKNOWN (about a radioactive blob) on TV. It scared me. The one scene that made me run into the bedroom involved a character’s face melting. Being as this came out in the 50s this had to involved deflating a balloon or something. But most horror movies on the tube saw me hiding in the bedroom for years. I’m still not a horror movie fan.

Sorry pauljmsn……grew up with Chiller Theatre and loved it….my dad’s favorite was the Attack of the 50 foot Women!

Must be one of the old Abbott and Costello horror spoofs.

Our Twilight (YUCK) loving niece drove us nuts. We tried showing her Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, but she wasn’t having any of it sigh I can only hope her taste will improve now that she’s a mum

The Uninvited: a 1944 American horror film with Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, and Donald Crisp. Minimal special effects but it will give you the willies. Look for Batman’s Alfred (Alan Napier) as Dr. Scott.

The Wolfman with Lon Chaney Jr. The thing is people are used to gore feasts and don’t appreciate subtle horror.

How about The Legend of Hill House? That’s black&white if I remember correctly. It scared the whatnot out of me when I saw it in my youth.

I actually don’t envy kids today if they’re so overstimulated that those types of movies are slow and boring to them now.

Creature Features. The movies were more campy and even to a much younger me, not too scary. But fun to watch.

Yep. I kept a pillow in my lap prepared to hold it up to my face. I was probably 8 years old. Twilight Zone.

The creepiest was Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”. It was not what you saw that scared you, it was what you did NOT see. The ending of the movie left you with many questions, which is what Hitchcock wanted.

Three stooges Have Rocket Will Travel (1959) with giant spider scared the Bejeezes out of us at 9 years old. Watched it as an adult and it was funny (as meant to be).

However, Queen of Outer Space still gross today as she takes off her mask and displays her colored scarred face. Probably the only reason they made it in color (1958).

I remember the difference between The Wolfman (with Lon Chaney Jr) as a kid and watching it as an adult. Found the dialog and costumes much cheesier as an adult.“The way you walked was thorny, through no fault of your own, but as the rain enters the soil, the river enters the sea, so tears run to a predestined end. Your suffering is over, Bela my son. Now you will find peace.”

What was scary to us is pretty campy today.

“When a Stranger Calls” scared the pants off me! Baby sitter gets a call asking if she has checked the children…call is coming from INSIDE the house…

I don’t know why this affected me so much as a kid, but “The Illustrated Man” gave me nightmares for years later. I think maybe because my sister didn’t let me finish watching it & maybe the scene was bad? I was 10 at the time. Since I couldn’t recall the actual movie that well I tried to watch it as an adult and it bored me, so no real clue to what scarred me for many years.

The original “Frankenstein.” My mom wouldn’t let me go see it but my older sister went. My sister called home to have my mom come pick her up before it was over- My middle sister answered the phone and said, “sorry, you have the wrong number.” Oldest sister started walking home. Mom found out the story and went looking for her. ( found her) I did finally see the original. ooky spooky!

Mid ’60’s first time i saw on Mom’s ‘54 Sylvania the friday midnite Local ’Creature Feature’, ‘Caltiki, the Immortal Monster.’ Just the stuff for pleasant dreams in my six-year-old mind after watching.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3czads1wp3Y

In the early 60s there were a few psychological semi-horror films, all in black and white: Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte. Die Die My Darling. Something Wild. And of course Psycho, the best of the bunch. Nothing ‘Semi’ about that one. Filming in B/W enhanced the ‘camp’ factor.

But my all-time fave was and still is Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” (this one in color) Having lived in San Francisco and seeing recognizable spots made it even more “favoriter”

Mr. Sardonicus

You’re a little old to be frightened by those movies, aren’t you?

The old movies are tons better than the ones today, being mostly special effects, with a tad of acting.

The oldies had minimal special effects, so the actors had to at least have an idea of how to act.